


Back On Earth

by Green_Aquarium



Category: Magic School Bus
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-06 05:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19056439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Green_Aquarium/pseuds/Green_Aquarium
Summary: Dorothy Ann would like to know something that puzzles her: Why does he never stay home if he dreads school so much?





	Back On Earth

"You know, Arnold, according to my research, there may be even more planets in our solar system beyond Pluto."

"Well good thing Janet didn't know that otherwise we'd be stuck there in space forever!"

Arnold and Dorothy Ann were walking home together from Walkersville Elementary School, on an unusually sunny October afternoon. It was incredible to realize that earlier today they had been flying through the empty vacuum of space, soaring past the icy rings of Saturn and Uranus. Now they were grounded once more upon the concrete sidewalk, something Arnold was silently grateful for. His nose was still runny from the cold he had gotten when he had taken his helmet off.

"Tissue, Arnold?" asked Dorothy Ann as she noticed his sniffles.

"Oh yes, thank you…" and Arnold took the small box of Kleenex she gave him from inside of her backpack.

"You know, Arnold. You gave us all quite a scare when you took your helmet off… we thought you had… well, you know…"

"Gee, I was just trying to get Janet to come home with us. But yeah that was stupid." He blew his nose and then tossed the used tissue into a nearby city garbage bin.  
"What was it like? Being frozen like that? Your head looked like a block of ice."

"I don't really remember, I just took it off and next thing I was back in the bus, you guys all standing over me with wide eyes. I'm glad Ms. Frizzle was able to melt it off right away."

"Janet was freaking out, Arnold. I thought she was going to have a heart attack. You know, Carlos was pretty frightened too."

"Oh, was he?"

"Yeah, for once he wasn't cracking any jokes."

"Well, you must've been happy then."

"Oh please, Arnold. I was terrified too. We all thought, that you were gone…"

"Yeah… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put you guys through that."

"Ms. Frizzle kept you safe. She watches over all of us so gingerly. I don't think you were in any real danger. She's a good person, Arnold."

"I understand that. I don't hate her or anything, I just wish she could be more, well, normal sometimes."

"Do you still wish you had stayed home today?"

"Only so that Janet wouldn't have bugged you guys."

Dorothy Ann knew a lot of things, but she was still unsure of something about the bespectacled boy walking next to her.

"Why do you keep coming back Arnold, if you hate the field trips so much? I know that you'll just be there again tomorrow, you never stay home ever."

"Well, where else would I see you guys? Where else would I get to hang out with Carlos and you, and Keesha, and all the others? I want you all to know this, I like you. I dislike the field trips."

"One outweighs the other?"

"Yeah, I guess. I hope that never changes though."

D.A. was quiet for a minute, taking in what exactly Arnold had told her, examining it under a microscope in her head. Eventually, she broke the silence.

"Arnold, perhaps we can do something with you this weekend. Me and the others?"

"I'd like that."

"How about the actual planetarium, without Janet?"

"So long as we don't get too close to Jupiter there," Arnold joked. They had walked up to Dorothy Ann's house by now and she turned to go up to her door.

"Now, you get rest at home, okay? According to my research, rest is the best way to fight a cold."

"You'll have to let me borrow your research books one day, Dorothy Ann… I want the one about rocks."  
"So long as you're very, very careful with it. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Arnold kept walking along to his house. A trip to the real planetarium this weekend with his friends? Yes, that sounded fine. It was one thing about Ms. Frizzle he never understood. Life didn't have to be adventurous every day. For Arnold Perlstein, just being next to his friends was enough.


End file.
